Kirschner Design

Burks Toma Architects is a design-oriented architectural firm founded in Berkeley in 1984. The Principals of Burks Toma Architects, Karen Burks and Marc Toma, have combined professional architectural experience of 45 years covering a broad range of project types and complexity. Our clients include universities, cities, municipal utility districts, schools, recreation departments, park districts and the US Forest Service. Regardless of size or location, however, we seek in our design process to imbue each project with a specialness derived from the uniqueness of its place and program. From our inception, we have consistently produced buildings that are energy efficient and environmentally sound. We are familiar with the LEED certification process and have developed a database of, and specifications for, a broad range of sustainable materials and practices. We believe that considered client and user input is critical to the creation of a successful building. Indeed we have found that the best buildings occur when client and architect have a constructive, interactive relationship.